Oberlin: Yesterday, Today,
Tomorrow...

Chapter 10

Oberlin Women

Ladies' Societies

Although Oberlin women worked very hard at home and in their
gardens, they also organized and participated in a number of town and
College groups. Wives of the College faculty formed a group called
"The Ladies' Board." Their job was to make sure that the female
students at the College followed strict rules for proper dress,
classroom behavior, and attendance at church. There were other rules,
as well. For instance, one strange rule was: "never wear a dress and
cape of different colors."

Other groups were called "associations" or "societies." They
included the "Oberlin Musical Association," now called the "Musical
Union." This large group of men and women, students and townspeople,
sang at First Congregational Church. People, from as far away as
Cleveland, traveled by horses and buggies to Oberlin to hear their
concerts.

Most Oberlin women believed that slavery was wrong, and some
formed a "Ladies' Antislavery Society." They raised money to pay for
antislavery speakers to travel the country and tell others why
slavery was not only wrong, but a sin. Early Oberlin villagers
believed that God had called them to work together with the College
to make the world a better place. That meant helping
African-Americans become free so they could enjoy the same rights as
white people.

Women At Oberlin College

Before 1833 women were not allowed to do many things that women
take for granted today. For instance: women could not attend
colleges. In those days, there were only a small number of American
colleges, and most of them were in New England, like Harvard and
Yale. Only a few men went to these colleges. These men wanted to
learn more about about the world. They also took college classes to
become qualified as ministers, professors, lawyers and doctors. There
were no rocket scientists in those days, no electrical engineers, and
no computer experts. The world has changed a lot since Oberlin
College first opened its doors in November 1833.

Oberlin College is known for two great social reforms. It was the
first college in the world to admit women as well as men. It also was
the first college that promised to educate African-American men and
women.

Today, nearly all colleges and universities teach black and white
men and women. But in the 1830s this was unheard of. For many years,
Oberlin was the only place where black women could take college
classes.

One of the reasons women did not go to college in those days was
because they could not become ministers, doctors, or lawyers. Most
people thought that, because women became wives, mothers or teachers
of young children, they didn't NEED to learn more about the world.
But, at Oberlin, people believed that women could become even better
teachers, wives, and mothers if they were able to take college
classes along with men.

Lucy Stone Speaks
Out

Some women, who were students at the College, felt so strongly
about the sin of slavery, that they began to give speeches in and
around Oberlin. In those days, just as women could not become
ministers or lawyers, they could not give public speeches. This was
because most people believed that there were passages in the Bible
that warned against women speaking in public.

One Oberlin student, Lucy Stone, believed that the Bible's
warnings for women were not really understood. So, she took classes
in Greek and Hebrew, for they were the languages used by the writers
of the Bible centuries before. She then could read these passages in
the languages in which they were written, not in later translations.
Lucy Stone believed that the Bible was "on the side of women." She
also believed that women should be allowed to speak out whenever and
wherever they saw wrongs in the world.

Lucy Stone became a well-known speaker against slavery. She
lectured all over the country, and many men and women came to hear
her. She later became even better known as a leader in the Women's
Rights movement.

This movement came about not only because women could not become
ministers, doctors, or lawyers, but also because they were not
allowed to vote in either local or national elections. Nor could
women own a home, or even testify in court. Women had very few rights
at all.

On the other hand, women were expected to pay taxes to the
government, even though they were not allowed to vote for the people
in Congress who made the laws. Lucy Stone said, "This is wrong."

Soon, many women from all over the country began to work for
women's rights, and for woman's suffrage. "Suffrage," means "the
right or privilege of voting." Many women worked for woman's suffrage
in the Nineteenth Century.

Oberlin Women As Pioneers

At
Oberlin, besides Lucy Stone, a number of women students also became
well-known pioneers in professions that earlier had been open only to
men. Antoinette Brown Blackwell, Lucy's closest student friend at
Oberlin, became the first ordained woman minister in the country.
While she was studying in Oberlin, she preached at many nearby
village churches. She was the first women anyone here had ever seen
in a pulpit.

Many Oberlin women became famous educators. Mary Jane Patterson,
who grew up in Oberlin, became a student at the College. She and her
family lived in "Patterson's Corner", a combination house and grocery
store that her father built on the south east corner of Main and
Lorain Streets.

In 1862, Mary Jane Patterson became America's first black woman to
receive a college degree. She later taught school in Washington, D.C.
and there became the first woman principal of Dunbar High School,
where many famous African-Americans graduated.

Black and white Oberlin women were pioneers in opening up many
professions that had been closed to women. As educators and
reformers, Oberlin women helped make the world a better place.